Let's Ride ... The Edinburgh Trams Extension

There are eight new stops on the Edinburgh Tram system, which opened in June 2023, and as I found myself up in Edinburgh for the Festival, I figured it was time to catch up with my local friend Lewis, and ride the new extension talking Trams as we went ...
Thanks to Lewis for the additional Time Lapse Bonus Footage.

[@stewartoutandabout]

*person driving along Leith Walk* "Is that Geoff Marshall over there?" *looks* BANG!

[@therealcaldini]

Good to see the grass covered blocks in between the tracks. They can go some way to reduce the heat island effect of all that concrete.

[@sirBrouwer]

Not only that. It helps with allowing rain water to soak away. (Rain is more a issue in Edinburgh) But the best of all it just looks nicer. Plants make a street look good.

[@HenrysAdventures]

Good to see the Edinburgh Tramway extension open. We need more trams in the UK.

[@sglenny001]

We do yes

[@spacegoat1385]

yes indeed we need more trams but also lots more railway lines

[@HenrysAdventures]

@@spacegoat1385 Trams in Leeds would be a start.

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

I love that modern trams continue to use the sound of a ‘gong’. 👍😀

[@svenlakemeier]

Munich had new trams equipped with a similar sound played over speaker but modified the trams after a short time to physical bells as present in old trams. A real bell just works better than a sound file

[@MrAronymous]

@@svenlakemeier Not true, it depends on the sound files. An electric bell will always sound loud and consistent. But if the manufascturer puts a wrong sound file on there it can sound quite fake and mechanical. I'm willing to bet Munich didn't put an actual bell in there but just changed the sound file.

[@svenlakemeier]

@@MrAronymous How much are you willing to bet? There are german language articles out describing the change. I tried to comment with a link, but that gets filtered by KZbin

[@sandy6674]

They didn't require new trams because the original order was for the full network before Edinburgh City Council / Scottish Government cocked up the build and it was rationalised to terminate at Picardy Place (then 100 foot up the road at York Place). So 9 years later the fleet is actually being utilised as originally planned.

[@rogink]

Yes I thought that might be the case. Infrastructure projects have a habit of going well over budget but it's partly down to the stop start nature of them. There was a glut of new tramlines built in the early 90s, then it stopped until Edinburgh 20 years later. You lose the experience and knowledge of mistakes made, and the people who build them move on. So you have to start over again. And make the same mistakes. In France there are many cities much smaller than Edinburgh with much bigger tram networks. They never stop building and expanding. Even the small city of Le Havre now has trams.

[@rynabuns]

@@roginkthis country never learns-a lot of the Crossrail experts have left

[@llynllydaw]

Yes, not foresight in buying enough trams for a planned second phase, but incompetence in having to stop the build of the planned line when only part complete. But good to see that it's finally finished.

[@annabelholland]

Before it opened, the terminus would have been at Newhaven (line 1a). They then cut the line down to St Andrews Square but trams would continue to Picardy Place and reverse there. Later on, they did build a temporary stop just shy of Picardy Place and trams would run to there and drop/pick up passengers until funding for the trams to Newhaven is approved. But when the extension was approved, trams no longer stop at Picardy Place until end of construction due to demolition of the platform and the line for a month was temporarily cut to West End as the nearest crossover was just before that stop (if coming from airport) and then to St Andrews square, but trams would still continue until just before Picardy and reverse there until June 2023. For comparison, Sheffield has 32 trams for a network of 22 miles, but Edinburgh has 27 trams for a network of 8 miles (pre extension)

[@paultidd9332]

Before the extension or completion of the line; I heard they would rotate the use of the trams whilst the did not need them all and they even looked at selling some off to Croydon Trams?

[@lorenzo_contini_7]

Lewis is such a happy and funny guy, always smiling! Amazing

[@i40a]

And with very outstanding Scottish accent😅🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@the1gip]

Lewis is great. His local knowledge is as accurate as it is comprehensive!

[@ThePeteW]

Shame his pronunciation of local areas (Picardy Place) is not exactly how it should be! I’ll let Geoff off(as a non local) with Bal-for Street (which around the town is Bal-fer Street)

[@MrPaulFCockburn]

It’s important to remember that those big pulley wheels belonged to the Edinburgh Trams system, not the Leith Trams (as Lewis mistakenly said)‚ which had always been powered by electricity. When the Burgh of Leith was “amalgamated” into Edinburgh in 1920, the city’s tram system had to be upgraded to electrical before it was finally connected with the Leith system.

[@aurelienammeloot1230]

This looks like it was shot around lunchtime last Sunday, because I was remember being in a shop on McDonald Road when the storm broke out suddenly. I had planned to take a ride on the trams but decided to go for a drive because I wasn't brave enough for the rain, would have been fun to bump into you guys :D

[@aurelienammeloot1230]

Also the guy in charge of transport at Edinburgh Council said on Twitter they'd start piloting contactless tap / cap payments on trams at the end of this Summer, so should be soon-ish.

[@richcolour]

That's right, just when my brother in law lit the barbeque :D

[@alanjrobertson]

​@@aurelienammeloot1230that'd be great, the existing mobile app where you have to scan the QR code on the platform is a bit of a faff!

[@therealcaldini]

That’s just a lucky guess. We have a burst of rain like that most days in Edinburgh. 😂

[@rogink]

@@aurelienammeloot1230 I thought TfL were trying to phase out the Oyster card to get everyone to use their phone for payment. If Edinburgh really wanted to 'be like London' you'd have thought they'd do the same!

[@tramographyMCR]

This is an informative and funny video, Geoff, hope you had a nice time in Edinburgh

[@alanjrobertson]

Welcome to Edinburgh, Geoff - glad we put the weather on for you 😂😂 Loved the cheeky wee Fringe interlude too.

[@Michael75579]

York Place, when the trams terminated there, was a platform with a single tram line running alongside it. Trams came through the crossover just before the stop in the direction in which the crossover did nothing and stopped just before the buffers marking the end of the line. The driver shut down this cab, got out, and walked along the platform to the cab at the other end of the tram. After a short delay the tram pulled out along the same bit of track it came into York Place on and went through the crossover to switch it onto the other track for the trip back to the airport. This arrangement meant that York Place would have required some major alterations to allow the twin tracks just before it to join to the twin tracks going down Leith Walk. Since Picardy Place, the stop at the top of Leith Walk, was less than 100 metres away, it was decided to remove the stop and run the second track through where the platform had been.

[@MikeWillSee]

Was not expecting to see a car crash in a Geoff video! Nonetheless I have to say I enjoyed this very much, it's always good to see new transit infrastructure, and I look forward to riding it for myself!

[@francisboyle1739]

As long as it's not a train/tram crash.

[@GustavSvard]

That temporary end station that got replaced by a new station a bit further on once the planned-from-the-start extension got built is something we have in Stockholm too. No sign of the temporary stop here either. Our extension was just one stop though! Lovely to see Edinburgh in such Scottish weather.

[@themoviedealers]

LA recently got our first demolished station, the Little Tokyo station, on the former L line (former service, but all trackage still exists). The Little Tokyo station was relocated across the street and underground. That's our only current one, but there are many remnants of the Los Angeles Railway and the Pacific Electric Railway, once the largest urban rail system in the world. You could spend months exploring those, from station buildings, to abandoned street medians.

[@norbitonflyer5625]

Not uncommon - think of short lived termini like King William Street, or Loughton, or Charing Cross (Jubilee), or Nine Elms, or Maiden Lane, or the original York station.

[@ClydebridgeStation]

I've been in Harburn Hobbies model shop many times, and indeed, 47444 on my layout came from there in 2018! Very good shop Geoff, and their Harburn Halt signs are also an own brand range of scenic products for layouts! I also bought my Hornby Elite DCC controller from there. Another fact, heading a little bit up Leith Walk from Harburn Hobbies, you pass the Gateway apartments. That was previously the Scottish Television Gateway TV theatre. Bet you didn't know that!

[@almostanengineer]

I just spent a week in Glasgow as my niece was competing in the BMX Racing, and me and my nephew visited every station on the ‘Clockwork Orange’ he absolutely loved it 😊

[@rossmcgarrie9787]

Such a joy seeing Edinburgh the city I was born in. Recognised Harburn Hobby’s as I collected alot of model buses 🚍 in the 1990s & early 2000s. Love Edinburgh so much folks. 👍👍

[@gilbertmoyes2918]

Used to be on the other side of the street and closer to the bottom of Leith Walk.

[@FC-Mobile-Highlights]

Lewis seems a nice guy

[@patrickl2195]

I guess we’ll never know whether he has been accepted by the people of Leith…

[@TheBallastMan]

Hi Geoff, the story behind the Harburn Hobbies is it was made by the owner and a customer. It started when someone brought an old railway Harburn station sign with the the builders holding it by the McDonald Road Stop. Then the Harburn Hobbies decided to make the Harburn Halt stop

[@TheBallastMan]

@@geofftech2 I plan to visit this weekend so I'll pop in to them know they made it into the video

[@neilgwynne5158]

Harburn between mid Calder junction and Carstairs I assume?

[@alastairwood1745]

When I stay in Edinburgh, I usually stay in the Premier Inn at York Place, which is essentially directly opposite the old tram stop. Last summer I had not realised they had already shut it (because the extension was still being built, I had no reason to think it wouldn't be). I walked to the platform where a tram was and the driver came out and explained that the stop was not in use anymore. I asked as I had a ticket could I just get on anyway as she was about to leave for the next station round the corner............. and she said no! So I set off walking and because of heavy road traffic, I got there just before her and then ended up getting on the tram anyway! I guess it was probably insurance or something she couldn't let me on but it was quite funny how I ended up just getting on her tram regardless. RIP York Place Tram stop!

[@conscienceaginBlackadder]

Can say as a regional local, though not personally affected by that station. It's removal for a year was extremely annoying, especially as they continued to run the trans to it, they did not insert a new crossover at St Andrew Square which would be a good place for one. They should have built + opened Picardy Place first, ahead of the whole extension

[@radiogoodguy6287]

Nice trams! Geoff & his local friend nicely compliment each other. Love the wheel sculpture remembering the old tram system. I visited Edinburgh in the late 70s. A very quaint city.

[@Sim0nTrains]

If you want a perfect disused tram stop. the former Birmingham Snow Hill Tram stop is still there with the escalator but the tracks are disconnected from the Tram network. Great video and hope yourself and Lewis weren't too shook up after witnessing that crash but good to hear that no one was hurt

[@andyt2510]

You can get a really good overhead view of it from Livery Street car park (you don't need to park there - you can just use the stairs to go up!).

[@Sim0nTrains]

@@andyt2510 Think it the same location but I walk from the entrance from Snow Hill Station and go over the footbridge heading towards the ticket barriers but turn right before the ticket office and look down from there

[@alanbudgen2672]

I was there last weekend, great time on the trams. I didn't realise the extension was so new.

[@paulharvey9149]

Ah, I was wondering when one of you English KZbinrs were going to come and sample our extended tram line, with so much more street running - I believe you could be the first, Geoff - well done! Back when construction started in 2011 (or whenever it was), there was a cartoon in the local paper featuring a tram with the destination, "Fit o' the Walk likesay," which is "Foot of the Walk in the local Leith accent. As you may have noticed, the pub whose wall the city-bound platform shares, is also named "Foot of the Walk", as was the cinema that it is a conversion of. That tram stop's platforms are the only ones to also be part of the pavements (of Constitution Street, at the end of which it sits), as there was insufficient clearance to keep them separate. Did you also notice the curved former entrance and offices of Leith Central railway station, on the opposite corner? of Duke Street/Leith Walk? And how about the entrance of the Caledonian Railway's passenger station, that was never opened to the public, on the corner of Manderston Street nearby? The red sandstone it and the row of shops fronting the former goods yard opposite, is the main giveaway... Closed as a through route to the south in 1965, the iron girder viaduct that carried it across Leith Walk was finally removed in 1989 - the broken edges of this can still be discerned. (At the other end of Manderston Street, a similar viaduct also carried that - the Leith New Lines of 1903 - across Easter Road until the same time). The disused line that Lewis describes as the former Powderhall branch has in fact, a much more significant place in Scotland's railway history - as has the site on its Leith side, which until recently was the largely derelict main workshops and depot of the former Edinburgh Corporation Tramways, that closed for good at the end of October, 1956. The five-platform Leith Walk station is said to be lost in the undergrowth of the area you show: this was an interchange between the passenger services of the North British Railway between Edinburgh Waverley and the North Leith, and Granton Harbour branches - the latter forming part of the main inter-city route between Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee via the Granton - Burntisland ferry, which was how the NB route crossed the Firth of Forth prior to the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890! It is also the second such route - the original ran through the steeply-inclined Scotland Street tunnel, some distance to the west, which was abandoned in favour of this route when it opened in 1867.

[@yorkshirethegreat]

G Loves Trains has been here before, she's a Lancashire Lass and videod every tramstop!! 😃

[@crossleydd42]

We Engliish'll visit the new tramway extension when you Scots visit our Besses o' th' Barn in Greater Manchester!🙄

[@InkItOut]

And me and Nick Badley also visited it just after opening! (Funnily the same day G visited it as we saw her 😂)

[@peterdobson5726]

Starting a petition for lewis to be the default companion in all videos

[@AllensTrains]

It is pleasing to see that progress has been made in getting the Edinburgh tram system up and running. It has been a long time coming! Thanks for uploading.

[@RandomRailways]

If you head down the other end towards the airport there's a nice stop at Gogarburn. In the adjacent churchyard is the grave of Thomas Grainger, railway engineer & surveyor, who was involved in the construction of many of Scotland's railways, including Haymarket Station, and some in England, including the Wharfdale viaduct

[@NotThatHunter]

as well as the Powderhall line, there's also the Edinburgh South Suburban, that is used for frieght but not passenger trains, though there is a campaign to change that...

[@Michael75579]

Apart from freight, the South Suburban line is kept open as an alternative route into Waverley for passenger trains if there's a problem with the main line.

[@NotThatHunter]

@@Michael75579 Which makes it a perfect candidate for re-opening! The track is maintained and signalled for passenger travel, it just needs platforms and stations. Even if the Haymarket-Waverley section is too congested for additional trains, a service terminating at Haymarket and allowing for inter-modal transfers with the tram and bus network would be a real benefit, and I hope the Council are exploring it

[@alanreader4815]

The trams look nice.

[@caw25sha]

Yes they are. They have a pleasantly sonorous bell when they could have gone for something rather obnoxious. Also plenty of luggage space, unlike Crosslizpurp trains.

[@LothianBusesPhotos]

They are rubbish to ride on though.

[@timwillett7802]

Lewis is adorable 🥰

[@DESdrive007]

I, in a thousand years, never expected in a Geoff Marshall video for a car crash to occur while filming a railway. I definitely had to rewind to watch that part again because I wasn't expecting that whatsoever!

[@scottishtrainspotter7209]

Do love the new tram line in Edinburgh, been on the line a couple of times.

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Thanks!

[@richardharrison6993]

A fun video. 👍👍

[@Will_3rd]

Glad they finally finished the extension down to Leith, was still a building site when I visited in 2021.

[@Shuttlefield]

Well done Geoff for the trip up to Edinburgh - do hope my wonderful brother was driving you - didn't see the driver in the clips. Loves his job and it's great to see the route finally open to Newhaven - hope you went round Britannia.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

It's nice to see Lewis again. I think it's "Leithers" as the collective name for people from Leith, certainly Dick Gaughan calls himself a Leither, and he should know. Were you giving an old friend some moral support at the Fringe, Geoff?😉

[@stinkyroadhog1347]

Wow! Edinburgh has everything! Even low speed car accidents!

[@andrewwilson6240]

Nottingham has an abandoned tram stop. When the extension to the west opened in 2016, the old Nottingham Station stop closed, and a new one opened about 50m down the line. It is still very visible.

[@Mantolwen]

Thanks for catching the B roll footage outside Leith Post Office, I'm a postbox nerd and was going to visit the post office on Sunday but changed my mind when the heavens opened! Was just down from you at Balfour Street at the time!

[@lordpitnolen2196]

The Scottish Concessionary Pass allows free travel to Lothian residents only on the trams. Others from elsewhere have to pay. I think that the Glasgow Underground is similar. .. Remember, Scotland, four seasons in one day. The snow would be later 😂

[@HuggyBob62]

The only time I've been to Edinburgh they were digging up the roads for the first tranche of trams. Nice to see a few in action after all this time.

[@jonsmith8582]

Harburn Hobbies , been in the same family for over 50 years , use it or lose it !

[@simonhorn1745]

Great as always...think I will have a wee dram at Robbies and have a good old stare at those pulley wheels. Nice addition Lewis

[@Ztbmrc1]

Very nice, let the tram networks grow! They are now building a complete new tram system in Liège in Belgium. That is about 50 km (30 m) from my home here in the south east of the Netherlands. It should open in 2024. And I will ride it then. Maybe you would like to come and see it. Liège is closer to London than Edinburgh! I will accompany you, and help with the French translation, as Liège is in the French speaking part of Belgium.

[@Leojw10]

Liège is very close to Brussels which speaks french and English part of Flanders region like some part of Netherlands??

[@Ztbmrc1]

@@Leojw10 Well Liège is not in Flanders, but in Wallonie, where the speak French. And many people, mainly young ones, also speak some English. In Flanders they speak Dutch similar to the Dutch here in the Netherlands, but a bit different. Compare it with English in the Uk and English in the USA.

[@pratikgheewalla337]

Harburn Hobbies are fun and knowledgeable people, will show them this video next time I am there :)

[@interimattack]

We're up in Edinburgh and just visiting the Colinton Tunnel. Have you ever been? It's a really remarkable community project and very beautiful!

[@chrissaltmarsh6777]

I live 100m or so from Picardy Place. York Place stop was shut for a couple of years - a reet pain. Today I could get on the tram down Leith Walk to do a bit shopping. There's all sorts of interesting stuff there. You can get the bus. All 17 of them, confusion is thy name. Leith Walk will change now; the tram is comfortable, quiet, the platform is at the same height as the tram - wheelchairs - kids in buggies - that works, and you know where you are.

[@caw25sha]

Do you know how it got it's name? I'm guessing Auld Alliance or some WW1 connection.

[@Michael75579]

@@caw25sha Picardy Place was originally built by a group of weavers from the Picardie region of France in the 18th century. Leith was originally a separate town from Edinburgh, with Leith Walk running between them. Urban sprawl from both directions meant that they were effectively one place long before Leith was officially incorporated into Edinburgh in 1920. You can still visit the Boundary Bar on Leith Walk, a pub which used to straddle the Edinburgh/Leith border and therefore had fun features such as different drinking up times in different parts of the bar.

[@caw25sha]

@@Michael75579 That's really funny. Reminds me of "the Leith police dismisseth us".

[@The-tg5zg]

The trams are brilliant. I hope they get on and build the north south line to the hospital soon!

[@clairehislop5873]

I love travelling on the trams whenever I'm in Edinburgh 😍 The wee 'ding' sound always amuses me

[@aidanbrent]

Harburn hobbies is a brilliant model shop in Edinburgh if it was open geoff you would of loved it

[@Jensen685]

Hi Geoff your videos are amazing ❤

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I love the Edinburgh Trams. It’s a fun system.

[@reptongeek]

Pity it's not four lines though. Could have been a great transit challenge if they did

[@philipbrailey]

Really nice video. I’ve never been to Scotland., so it was very interesting.

[@cyrilio]

What a great surprise. I just arrived in Edinburgh for Fringe Festival and used the tram today. Ps the new line should definitely be a combined tram/cycle path. It’s what Not Just Bikes would recommend.

[@williamstewart7523]

Nice to see you touch down in ye old Edin! 🎉

[@zbbrow]

Welcome to Edinburgh 🎉 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@oscarramage95]

I’m glad you finally made it to Edinburgh. I’m so glad the teams are finally finished. Shame I missed you on Sunday as I was out of town

[@johnboxxy3432]

Sadly the Edinburgh trams have the same issue as public transport in many places including here in Australia.Trashy adverts stuck on windows.

[@ToonTom37]

This is so cool! I'm from the middle of Canada and have been following you since the pandemic. We have a family member temporarily living in the UK so just spent 18 days there. Along the way, I was checking off whenever I did something you did. It seems I did the same exact tram trip (I had to see Sunshine on Leith) the Sunday before you!

[@saxenaaj85]

Geoff Marshall was in my city!!! Love your work.

[@pauljmccluskey5532]

How exciting! Loving the cool trams ❤

[@oscars4107]

Great video, and nice to see the Roddy Frame looks a likely too 👍

[@videographerguy1360]

Great videos as always Geoff

[@daviddron4780]

I was born in Edinburgh and my family moved down to Surrey in around 1952, so I can just about remember the old double decker Edinburgh Corporation Trams. (My grandparents still lived there so we used to visit regularly after we moved.) They were painted in the same livery that is used on the buses today. The last tram ran in 1959. Shame you didn’t mention the old system - great video though!

[@redpilledpict2747]

My grandfather took me to see the last tram arrive at the Shrubhill Depot in 1956. There were massive crowds lining the streets.

[@folksinger2100]

Excellent video

[@teecefamilykent]

Brilliant video!

[@zipWith]

You went under the ghost of an old railway bridge just past the foot of the walk - the arches and buttresses are still there. I thought you'd comment on it!

[@tom36kul]

I can’t resist - I have a crush on the cute Scot you met with, who also happens to love trains. The only thing missing was a kilt.

[@Transpennine]

Nice to see some development in Edinburgh!

[@wrestlcub]

This was a lotta fun! Thank you! :D

[@Rorywizz]

Glad they've finally opened now

[@amethyst7084]

Great informative video Geoff. Thanks for sharing. Interesting how at 10:04 and 10:13 the view of the tram crossover was a bone dry ☀️ setting as oppsed to where you were standing at the old York Place, which was being rained on. 🌧 👍🏾

[@colinnich]

Nowhere near the same place - that looks like Edinburgh Gateway. Could be wrong, don't know the system that well being better half of Central Scotland 🙂

[@norbitonflyer5625]

That's Scottish weather for you - four seasons in an afternoon.

[@puddinski13]

What a great video :) Slightly disappointed that you skipped my stop (The Shore) with Rabbie Burns statue 😢

[@nanunanu8745]

The busiest stop in Leith apparently.

[@albe6253]

This summer the Barcelona tram works for expand it by Diagonal avenue moved a stop (Glories from Meridiana avenue to the center of Glories square) and the closure of another (La Farinera, for being to close to the new Glories one)

[@Thecrazyvaclav]

Nice nod to the proclaimers with the York place ( no more). Nice edit before the swear at the car crash

[@caw25sha]

I don't see why Geoff would need to edit out "oh dear, how unfortunate, I appear to have collided with another motor vehicle. How silly of me".

[@lukeey9114]

That old rail line under macdonald road bridge was once part of the line to trinity and bonnington it did had freight trains on the line but then it was abandoned

[@jamespir]

Always informative and. Also funny . Love the Scottish weather

[@bobhodgestransportDVDs]

Best value for travelling around Edinburgh is the £5.00 1 day travel ticket, covers all the bus routes in the city area plus the tram route as far as Igliston Park & Ride, extra to go to the final stop at the airport.

[@macstyle2012]

I have been to Edinburgh many times, but never yet ridden a tram.

[@MeFreeBee]

Me too. My mum lives in Marchmont which isn't served, and my nephew who used to live in Leith has moved elsewhere just in time to make the extension irrelevant too.

[@macstyle2012]

I haven't had the need to use it. Whenever I have visited Edinburgh I always go over the side where the castle and old stuff is - never been anywhere that the trams go to@@MeFreeBee

[@SimonLant]

That disused rail line fir Powderhall isn't long out of use, it used to carry household waste from a local waste recovery plant to landfill out of town. Sometime in the past 8 years since I moved out of the area.

[@anderson357]

At bottom leith walk at their back the building with the clock tour used to be the big Leith Central station.

[@danieltoth-nagy5097]

When the video started in the sunshine I wanted to comment the quote, "I remember the Scottish summer, it was a beautiful day in August" but by the end of the video it quickly turned into classic Scottish weather where seasons change themselves during the day. :)

[@caw25sha]

According to the subtitles they are edible trams. Are they made of shortbread?

[@adambuesser6264]

I been on a Scotland and England trip in Late June of 2023. The new tram line just open a few weeks ago before the start of my trip. Like the Interior good scheduling. Like to come back.

[@rockerjim8045]

I walked the Roseburn path in July 23 and that was an old Edinburgh railway route. This would make an excellent addition to the tram network as it passes very near Newhaven and could link up to Haymarket.

[@neilgwynne5158]

It's a major cycling walking corridor now. To remove that and replace with trams would be incredibly unpopular. In addition that route avoids the main population centres in the West of Edinburgh so the preference is for on street running to pick up Crewe toll, Western general and comely bank areas.

[@neilgwynne5158]

Edinburgh council have already published potential route extensions including to royal hospital as well

[@nkt1]

@@neilgwynne5158The original trams put the railway that once ran there out of business. There’s no way the new trams are getting their hands on it!

[@jumpinallans]

Raindrops keep fallin' on my lens...

[@Calum_S]

"Have you been accepted yet by the Leithonians?" Followed by the longest silence! 😂

[@jamieplaysagamie]

I cant help but mention a couple of signs for pedestrians between St Andrew Square and Picardy Place that still point you in the direction of York Place.

[@rayob9131]

I was able to travel along the new bit to Newhaven and back on 21st July have done to original route on opening day (31st May 2014). The service frequency is pretty good and even when trams were bunched no-one had to wait particularly long. The information at stops and on board was fine though you have to search their website to find the limits of the City Zone (covers all stops between Ingliston Park & Ride and Newhaven) referred to in ticketing options. The trams were clean and revenue protection was very effective. Overall though, with so many buses in the city and down to Leith and, eventually, eco means to power buses, it does make you wonder if the trams are a white elephant. I am not sure this vid will generate as much meaningful discussion as some of yours, Geoff, but thanks for sharing this record of your visit.

[@gibric]

The City Zone includes every stop apart from the Airport - so it covers Ingliston P&R to Newhaven. The Tram Stops map used to show the City Zone but it seems to have been removed since they added in the new stops towards Newhaven.

[@jameswood6740]

Thank you Geoff for another interesting video. The most amazing trams that I have been on do not draw their power for an overhead wire, but through an induction system between the rails. Thus no need for all the unsightly overhead wires and cables. So do go to Rio de Janeiro and make a video on their tram system.

[@Fan652w]

Geoff does not need to go all the way to Rio to film a system using the APS system devised by Alstom, which you saw operating in that city. He need only visit Bordeaux, Orleans or Reims.

[@euanduthie2333]

Lewis is right- they should add the Powderhall branch, the South Suburban line and the Granton branch from Murrayfield onto the tram network. That would let it cover much more of the city.

[@badbob1982]

The south sub is a VERY heavily used freight route and Network Rail or Transport Scotland will never relinquish it. It’s the ONLY East-West route that avoids Waverley north of Newcastle-Carlisle. Any tram service along it would need to be of the TramTrain type, as used in Sheffield. Maybe diverging from the main route at Haymarket, along Dalry Road, joining the Sub at Gorgie Junction and running round as far as Cameron Toll. It’s far more likely to find that sort of use, than as heavy rail, as Haymarket and Waverley don’t have the capacity to support an intensive metro service being added. What is more likely, in the medium term, is a street running route across North Bridge out to the Royal Infirmary. As for the Powderhall Branch. It’s mothballed, not closed. Though it’s probably never going to see a train again. I don’t see it ever finding use with the trams as it doesn’t really go anywhere towards the west, and going east it just goes towards Meadowbank, which could be easier reached by just running along London Road. But rather than reconfiguring the London Road layout again, I would run it from the above mentioned North Bridge junction and up Regent Road to meet London Road near the retail park.

[@nanunanu8745]

A path/cycle route with streetlighting (and new bridge over the Water of Leith) connecting Meadowbank to Ferry Road would make sense.

[@jakerundell]

The M-10 tram line in Berlin just got a huge extension too

[@redsaxmax]

Auto generated subtitles are hilarious: "I'm at the top end of the tram network, the new extension to edible trams". Tasty!

[@jamesabbott5242]

Awesome Video Geoff

[@thisconnectd]

Looking at it its quite nice. Drivers compartment seems really big and glassed not like here where its mostly raised and walled off except the door I think the grassy trams thing is quite tame compared to what everybody is doing now with just the stone paving with holes instead of full grass

[@mikestravelshow]

Edinburgh is awesome 👌

[@edenviews]

I hope there are no crashes between cars and trams up there. When I was in Bordeaux a few years ago, a car derailed a tram in front of me, and I had to walk a long way back to the city centre. They make use of induction trackways there cutting the need for overheads. It makes sense using existing track-beds for new trams and would prevent a bit of disruption to city streets, too hopefully.

[@macstyle2012]

You should come and ride the tram system here in Tenerife. There are two point to point lines that share 1 station where they cross, but you can only get a tram from one end to the other on each line. None of the trams on line 1 leave and go along line 2.